After implying that he would move to take President Joe Biden off the 2024 ballot if the Supreme Court allows Colorado to bar former President Donald Trump from appearing on the primary ballot, Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft has continued to threaten to use that precedent to persecute Democrats. While Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade gave Ashcroft an uncritical, amiable platform to argue his point, CNN anchor Boris Sanchez seized on the opportunity to ask clarifying questions and correct false claims. 

In late December, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that, because of his role in the January 6 insurrection, Trump is ineligible to appear on the state’s ballot for the presidential primary later this year. Shortly after, the Supreme Court agreed to hear Trump’s appeal of the decision. In a separate case, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows ruled that Trump was to be removed from the state’s presidential primary ballots following a challenge from state residents. Reacting to the news, Ashcroft made the following statement on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday:

On Tuesday, Fox host Kilmeade interviewed Ashcroft on Fox & Friends and gave little pushback to his statements. 

Ashcroft suggested that Maine’s secretary of state might “throw people off the ballot based on mere allegation” and threatened that if so, such a precedent would be “applied not just to Republicans, but to Democrats equally.” Kilmeade failed to ask what allegations Ashcroft might use to remove Biden from the ballot or target other Democrats in this hypothetical situation. 

Kilmeade then suggested that Bellows barred Trump from presidential candidacy because she’s “a socialist who loves Joe Biden,” to which Ashcroft replied that Bellows is a “political hack, a bureaucrat with no legal training.” (Bellows has received a number of threats following her decision to disqualify Trump’s candidacy.)

As the interview concluded, Kilmeade commented that the precedent set by Maine and Colorado “better stop” because “it’s just going to be ugly for the country.” He praised Ashcroft for being “ready for action if the Supreme Court doesn’t take action to stop what Colorado and Maine did.”

Meanwhile, Sanchez used a Monday interview on CNN News Central to probe Ashcroft on his questionable claims. 

Ashcroft used the interview to criticize the decisions out of Colorado and Maine, and suggested that the states are using undemocratic means to deny Trump the chance to run for president. Sanchez pointed out that Maine did hold a hearing to determine candidate eligibility, in accordance with the state constitution, meaning that the secretary of state was following standard procedure. 

Bellows has clarified that the process of determining Trump’s eligibility to appear on ballots “wasn't something I initiated, but it's something that's required under Maine election law.” 

Ashcroft argued that the Maine Constitution does not set criteria for presidential candidates, and Sanchez reminded the secretary of state, “But Congress gives the states the ability to determine how their elections are run.” 

Ashcroft also asserted that Colorado and Maine failed to provide Trump with due process while state officials assessed both cases. Sanchez clarified that the former president’s legal team “chose not to present evidence” in the proceedings despite being given the opportunity.

Later in the interview, Sanchez brought up Ashcroft’s comments about removing Biden from Missouri election ballots and noted, “In order to remove President Biden from the ballot, according to your state constitution, you would need to go to court” just like in the decisions Ashcroft criticized in Colorado and Maine. Ashcroft replied, “Not at all,” and Sanchez read him the passage from the state constitution to back up his claim. 

In the final minutes of the interview, Sanchez repeatedly asked Ashcroft to make clear exactly what argument he would make in court to support his claim that Biden could be removed from 2024 ballots. When Ashcroft pointed to “allegations” that Biden has engaged in insurrection, Sanchez asked for clarification about that, saying that Ashcroft “can’t say something like that and not back it up." Ashcroft said only that he has “seen allegations” from the lieutenant governor of Texas and governor of Florida, and he provided no specifics.